Opponents of waste-to-energy plant to organize ballot question

December 18, 2012|By Emily Opilo, Of The Morning Call

Opponents of a proposed waste-to-energy plant that would burn Allentown's trash and sewer sludge to create electricity are organizing a ballot initiative in hopes of stopping the plant from being built.

Mike Ewall, founder and director of the Philadelphia-based Energy Justice Network, met with a group of about 20 concerned local residents Monday night to find ways to stop the 48,000-square-foot plant that is slated to be built on Allentown's Kline Island.

The plant, proposed by New Jersey-based Delta Thermo Energy, would break down sewage sludge and shredded trash in an industrial pressure cooker before burning the pulverized remains in a combustion chamber to make electricity. After a lengthy debate and a previous vote defeating the measure, Allentown City Council approved the proposal with a second vote in March.

Regardless of what officials are calling the plant, it's an incinerator, Ewall said.

"They recognize that the 'I' word is a dirty word," he said.

But Allentown residents can't expect to defeat the plant by lobbying local lawmakers, Ewall said. They've already approved it. And while developers have struggled to find funding for the project, that's no guarantee that they won't find it, he said.

The next step will be to collect signatures for a ballot initiative, similar to the one opponents of the city's proposed water and sewer lease recently organized, Ewall said.

Like a referendum, an initiative is a measure permitted by the city's Home Rule Charter to put a question before voters on the ballot — a referendum repeals existing legislation, while an initiative proposes an ordinance. Organizers must collect at least 2,000 signatures from Allentown residents to begin the process of putting the ordinance before council and eventually on the ballot.

Ewall said he has drafted an ordinance that would restrict the amount of pollutants any trash-burning facility in Allentown could release. The ordinance would be stricter than the state and federal regulations that would already govern emissions from the plant, he said.

City spokesman Mike Moore said city officials have not had time to adequately research and analyze the ordinance proposed by the petitioners, but there are potential issues.

"It raises the question of how a local ordinance or a local ballot initiative would blend with numerous state and federal environmental laws, rules and regulations and emission standards," he said.

Several residents volunteered Tuesday night to serve on the petitioning committee and lead the effort to collect the necessary signatures. Among them was Rich Fegley, co-owner of Brew Works, who has opposed the Delta Thermo and a plan to lease the city's water and sewer plants. Fegley said he was concerned about the money that was spent to investigate the Delta Thermo project before council approved it.

City administrators paid about $467,000 for consultants, lawyers and other experts to vet the proposed waste-to-energy plant. Up to $500,000 will be reimbursed by Delta Thermo, but only if the plant is built.

Fegley said he was concerned that council felt pressure to vote for the proposal because so much money had already been expended.

Bills to investigate the water and sewer lease proposal are still being accumulated, but about $400,000 has already been spent.